I’ve spent the past few years stewarding collaborative projects between the Center for Public Integrity and local newsrooms. These partnerships have expanded the depth of our reporting and strengthened our ability to reach audiences — and, we hope, offered equal value to our partners.
But that’s not a simple matter, or a safe assumption if you don’t put in the work.
As our mission shifted to focus on investigating inequality, we made a pointed effort to diversify our collaborative network. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time grappling with the question of how we, a national investigative newsroom, can ensure equitable partnerships with local newsrooms serving communities of color. I believe that the newsrooms we work with should benefit mutually from the collaboration, whether by enhancing reporting capacity, growing their audience or expanding their budget.
